Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that his government is hopeful of rolling out the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2016. The bill which is already introduced in the parliament will be rolled out by the next year he told the investors at the India-Singapore Economic Convention in Singapore.
PM Modi's remarks come two days before the winter session of Parliament is scheduled to begin and at a time when the government is trying hard to bring the Congress on board to get the bill passed. The government has set a deadline of April 1, 2016.
The Finance Ministry initiated an exercise on Monday evening to effect the changes in the bill that the Congress has been seeking. The main opposition party has more legislators in the Rajya Sabha than the BJP. The government needs the Congress's support so that the bill be passed in both houses by two-thirds majority.
Top leaders in the BJP-led NDA government are said to be in touch with the Congress brass on the issue.
